


Fairy Boys: Whole Stinking World

by WolfAndHound_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, Family, Glitterverse, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5930647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfAndHound_Archivist/pseuds/WolfAndHound_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of the Fairy Boys series (8). Mrs Lupin pisses off everyone in the whole stinking world, Remus transforms, and Sirius and Mr Lupin have a talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairy Boys: Whole Stinking World

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Lassenia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Wolf and Hound](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Wolf_and_Hound), which was created to make stories posted to the Sirius_Black_and_Remus_Lupin Yahoo! mailing list easier to find. However, even though I still love the fandom, I am no longer active in it and do not have the time to maintain it. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in December 2015. I posted an announcement with Open Doors, but we may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Wolf and Hound collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wolfandhound/profile).

~Next Day~

Dinner was a strained, silent affair, not helped by Mrs Lupin's continuing coldness towards the boys. She shot them malevolent glares every now and then, **accusing** glances, as if trying to tell them without words that they were unworthy of her food.

Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly. "Could you pass me the water jug, please?" he asked. His voice was hushed; he sounded horribly embarrassed.

Mrs Lupin dumped it in front of him without a word, carelessly and violently. A bit of water sloshed over the rim and onto Sirius' hand.

"Oh, for god's sake," Remus suddenly said. He stood up, shoving his chair back so it banged into the wall, and threw his napkin onto his half-cleared plate. "I've had enough of this. Your food **and** your attitude."

Mrs Lupin's mouth dropped open in shock. Moments later she began to splutter a reply, but her husband put a calming hand on her arm.

"Don't speak to your mother like that, Remus," he said. "Sit down, eat. You're going to need your strength tonight."

Remus took a couple of steps backwards and shook his head. "No! I don't deserve this sort of crap from her, and neither does Sirius."

"Remus, sit down," Mr Lupin repeated. "Now."

Remus looked from Sirius' flaming cheeks, to his mother's furious eyes, to his father's expressionless face, and sat down again. Neither he nor Sirius ate any more, choosing instead to study the facinating patterns on the tablecloth. The silence was more excruciating than ever.

When she'd finished, Mrs Lupin took her plate into the kitchen and slammed the door behind her, and the three men finally breathed out. Mr Lupin moved his plate aside so he could rest his elbows on the table, and his face in his hands. Remus bit his lip and met his father's stare.

"That was rude," Mr Lupin said.

"Yeah," Remus muttered. "I know, I'm sorry. She ju..."

"She was rude to you two."

The boys blinked. "Erm, well, yes," Remus said tentatively. He looked at Sirius for help. Sirius just shrugged. "And I was rude back," Remus finished.

Mr Lupin sighed, and took his glasses off so he could rub his eyes. "Well, she **did** deserve it. If your being rude is what it takes to get a reaction out of her, I'm all for it. Have you noticed, that shocked look is the first expression she's made since we... er, got back?"

"What, you mean other than the look that makes me check my shoes in case I've stepped in dog mess?" Sirius muttered.

Remus squeezed his hand gently.

"Why does she hate me so much?" Sirius asked. "I try my hardest to be nice to her, even when she treats me like shit. She never hated me before. Why now?" He held up their clasped hands. "Why is **this** any different?"

"I honestly don't know," Mr Lupin said. "I'm sorry you have to put up with her being so narrow-minded, but try to understand that it's a bit of a shock. For me too. I mean, we've always wanted grandchildren. Oh, not any more," he added quickly when he saw the stricken look on Remus' face. "I want you to be happy more than anything else, and I've never seen you smile as much as you've done over the last few days. But... well, I don't know, maybe it's a woman thing."

They were quiet for a while; this time it was comfortable, though, a complete contrast to dinner.

"Will you talk to her?" Remus asked. "Try and make her understand."

"I'll try. I'm not promising results, mind you. But I'll try."

"Thanks."

"Hug."

Remus' eyes widened in horror, and he moved his chair an inch or two closer to Sirius'. "Dad! Don't make me hug you in front of my friends!"

Mr Lupin grinned. "Fine," he said, before coming round the table and hugging him anyway.

Remus squawked with indignation, but he was smiling and he managed a couple of half-hearted pats to his father's back before pushing him away. Mr Lupin's eyes were suddenly serious again, and he ran his fingers lightly through the new grey streaks in his son's hair.

"Better get downstairs," he said. "Won't be long 'til the moon's up."

Remus nodded slowly. The horrible feeling of foreboding that had been growing over the last week or so soared to completely new heights when he left the dining room and stood in front of the heavy wooden door, and reached a shaky hand out for the key that hung on the nail beside it. He hesitated.

"I don't want to," he suddenly said, turning away and hiding his face against Sirius' chest. Sirius looked surprised, and brought his arms up around Remus' back. His entire **body** was trembling now.

"What do you mean you don't want to?" Sirius asked gently. "You **have** to, you know that."

He felt the wet warmth of tears soak through his t-shirt, and held Remus closer.

"I don't **want** to," Remus whispered. "I hate it, I **hate** it. I don't want to be me, I want to be normal."

Sirius swallowed hard, on the verge of tears himself at Remus' words. He looked imploringly at Mr Lupin over Remus' head.

"Come on," Mr Lupin said softly. He put his hand on Remus' shoulder and tried to pull him away, but he just sniffled and clutched at Sirius even tighter. "Remus, come **on** ," his father said again. This time there was a note of urgency in his voice, and he glanced at the dark window. "I know it's horrible, I know you hate it, and I wish every second there was something I could do for you, but I **can't**. Please, it's just for one night. I'll be with you the whole time."

Remus turned his head and glanced at his father. His eyes were getting yellower by the minute, and they were wet with tears. "You'll be on one side of the bars and I'll be on the other. I **hate** it."

" **I'll** be with you," Sirius said. He took the key from the nail and opened the huge padlock, then Mr Lupin muttered spells to unlock the door. "I'll be with you on **your** side of the bars, all night. Okay?"

"Sirius!" Remus hissed, flicking a quick, frightened glance at his father.

"You can't stay in there with the wolf, Sirius!" Mr Lupin said. "You're welcome to stay if you want to, on the other side of the bars with me, but you know you'd be killed if..." His voice trailed off when Sirius shook his head. Remus looked at him again and he peered back suspiciously. "Okay. Out with it. What are you not telling me?"

"Let's get downstairs first," Siirus said. He managed to get Remus to follow him into the darkened cellar, mainly because they were still holding hands and Remus didn't seem to want to let go. He lit his wand and looked around, taking in the heavy metal bars and the bed with tattered blankets in one glance. The room looked too big -- either it extended under the neighbouring houses too, or it had been magically-enlarged. He caught a strange sort of half-scent in the air. It was magic.

Remus suddenly let out a low moan through gritted teeth, and bent almost doube. Sirius had to hold him up, or he'd have crumpled right to the cold stone floor.

"Come on," Sirius said. He let Remus lean on him, and half-carried him through the barred gate.

"Sirius, come out, now," Mr Lupin said. His face was very pale.

Sirius shook his head and kicked the gate shut behind him. "Lock it."

"What!? Are you **insane**? Get out of there!"

"Please, Mr Lupin, lock the gate. It's fine, honestly."

With that, he suddenly transformed into a huge black dog with a shaggy coat and smoke-grey eyes. Mr Lupin let out a startled cry and fell back into his seat, unable to do anything but watch the other two in stunned silence.

"'lo, Padfoot," Remus whispered. The dog licked his hand fondly and sat on the floor to wait.

He didn't have to wait long. There were no windows in the room, but it was obvious that the full moon had completely risen. The first sign of the transformation was the hair that suddenly sprouted from Remus' smooth skin. After that, his limbs began to warp and change shape. The clicks and crunches as they broke and reformed were as loud as thunder, and he howled in pain.

He howled again when he was fully transformed, this time with fury. The wolf turned his yellow eyes on Mr Lupin and snarled, then threw himself at the bars, trying his hardest to reach him. He couldn't, of course, but if Padfoot hadn't been there to calm him down then he would have gone on trying until he knocked himself unconscious.

But Padfoot **was** there. He growled softly to get Moony's attention, and when the wolf turned round, he pounced. They scuffled on the floor for a few minutes, then the wolf seemed to lose interest in tearing out the throat of this intruder... he seemed to recognise him, and sat meekly on the floor. Padfoot sat beside him and licked his nose carefully, ridding him of the blood he'd spilled when he hit the bars. Moony whined softly in pain, but let Padfoot clean all his wounds. When he was done, they curled up together on the floor and went to sleep.

~+~

Sirius stroked his fingers gently through Remus' hair. He looked exhausted. He was far too pale, and all over his body there were new scratches, a few self-inflicted bites, and the usual cuts and bruises from his breaking bones, none of which could be tended to until he'd recovered a bit of his strength.

"I love you," Sirius whispered. "So much. So much. And I wish there was something I could do for you. I wish I could help you. I hate seeing you like this."

He kissed Remus' cheek softly, then looked up when someone tapped on the door. It opened, letting in a sliver of golden light from the lamps in the hall.

Mr Lupin came in. "Is he sleeping?" he whispered.

Sirius nodded, still stroking Remus' hair. "Was out like a light as soon as he was fully transformed, and hasn't woken up since. Where have you been? I thought you were staying. You weren't here when we changed back."

"I've been trying to talk to Claire. " Mr Lupin looked at the boys thoughtfully. "I take it you haven't slept?" Sirius just shrugged. Mr Lupin closed the door behind him and came forward, carrying a bowl of warm water and a cloth. He put them on the little chest of drawers until he'd pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down, then dipped the cloth and began to gently clean the blood off Remus' shoulder.

"How bad was it?" Sirius asked. His voice was a cracked whisper, and he tried again. "How bad was it when he was bitten? I've never asked him."

Mr Lupin didn't answer for a moment. "It was bad," he muttered, then paused again and swallowed thickly, as if he was trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said hurriedly. "I shouldn't have asked that..."

"No, it's okay. You deserve to know." The water was getting very pink now, and Mr Lupin muttered a quick spell until his breath to clear it before wetting the cloth again, and starting on another scratch. He spoke quietly as he dabbed away at the blood. "Claire was going through a nature phase, she wanted to go camping out in the wild somewhere. Things sort of fell nicely into place when I got invited to speak at a fantasy art conference in Germany, and we ended up staying at a campsite in the forest instead of a hotel. It was well looked after, the campsite... the officials checked the wood regularly for werewolves and vampires and things. This one must've just slipped past them."

Remus stirred slightly in his sleep, and Mr Lupin stopped speaking and laid his hand on his son's clammy forehead until he'd calmed down. "So, Claire and I were sitting by the fire in front of our tent, and Remus was asleep. We'd left the tent open so we could see him, but..." He broke off and sighed heavily. "But this werewolf was so quiet, so... stealthy. It just managed to sneak past us. And, um... well, we heard scuffling and growls, and when we went inside there our baby was, screaming and crying with this wolf on him. There was... blood everywhere. We managed to Stun the wolf..."

Sirius' stomach felt heavy, as though there was a rock in it. "Why didn't you kill it?" he interrupted.

Mr Lupin shrugged. "Stupefy was just the first spell that came to our heads. And I'm glad it wasn't anything stronger. It turned out to be this local girl. The poor kid had run away from home because she was getting abused, probably because of her illness. And then the full moon was upon her before she knew it, and she tried to run deeper into the forest so she wouldn't hurt anyone, but the scent of human flesh was too much. She was only fourteen."

"And how old was Remus?" Sirius whispered.

"Four."

"Oh."

There seemed to be nothing left to say after that. Mr Lupin conjured another cloth, and he and Sirius silently worked on cleaning Remus' wounds for the next ten minutes. They dumped the cloths in the bowl when they were done, and Mr Lupin put his hand on his son's forehead again, then took his pulse.

"He's a bit warmer, and his heartbeat's regulating. That's a good sign. He'll probably wake up soon."

Sirius nodded, then asked, "Mr Lupin? Are you... this is the stupidest question... are you all right?"

The older man smiled weakly, and took off his glasses so he could polish them on the hem of his shirt. It seemed like he was doing it just for something to do, rather than because they needed it. "Not really," he admitted. "Seeing him like this... it just kills me. I hate knowing that I can't help him."

"I know, me too," Sirius said quietly.

"You **do** help him, though," Mr Lupin said insistently. "This has been a good transformation, compared to the ones we're used to. Your presence seems to calm him. Even though it's illegal," he added, trying and failing to sound reproving. "When did you become an Animagus?"

"Not long ago. We've been trying since we found out about Remus' condition in the second year, an--"

"We?"

"Me and James and Pete. Lily wouldn't do it, she was a real swotty goody-two-shoes back then. And we didn't know Skye well enough to let her in on it. They're both learning now, or trying to, but they're crap at Transfiguration, so it doesn't look likely. But me and James and Pete, we cracked it last October."

Mr Lupin raised his eyebrows. "Wow," he said weakly. "I'm impressed. That's one of the most difficult pieces of magic I know of."

"Well, we'd all walk over burning coals for him, if we thought it'd help," Sirius said miserably. "I wish I could take it away from him. I'd go through it all without a single complaint if it meant he could walk in the moonlight without being scared out of his wits."

"The number of times I've wished it was me that was bitten..." Mr Lupin whispered. He forced himself to look at Sirius. "I can't help but think I tempted Fate too."

"How do you mean?"

"Claire wanted to call him John. It's a nice, sensible name, and both our fathers were called John. But I insisted on Remus." He looked down at his son sadly. "I just thought it'd be funny, with a surname like Lupin."

There was silence again for a long time as they both watched Remus' bare chest rise and fall as he slept. He looked so small and vulnerable.

"I love him so much," Sirius suddenly blurted out. He sniffed loudly, trying (and failing) to blink his tears back. "I can't stand this, I can't fucking **stand** him being in all this pain! It seems like the whole stinking world is against him sometimes, but he's so brave, he never lets on how tired he is or how much it hurts. Today's the first time he's complained in years. Did you hear him? He said he doesn't want to be himself any more, he wants to be normal, and I can't help him, and I fucking **hate** it, and... god, I love him."

"I know you do," Mr Lupin said gently. "And he loves you too. Don't let Claire put you off. I think she was envisioning a huge wedding, probably to Lily, and dozens of grandkids..."

Sirius laughed tearfully. "Yeah, right. If we get married, **he's** wearing the dress."

Mr Lupin snorted. "I don't think he'd be too happy with that."

"He's not getting a choice, I'm the man in this relationship!"

"Oh, really?" Mr Lupin raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Sirius grinned back. "And you can stop looking at my eyeliner right now."

They both chuckled, still a little uneasy but feeling a lot better than before. Sirius wiped his eyes, then swore under his breath when his hand came away black with smudged make-up.

"I look like shite," he muttered. "And do you know what? I really don't care."

Mr Lupin faked shock and horror. "Good god, are you feeling okay?" he asked.

Sirius dropped his eyes for a moment. When he looked up again, he was smiling. "Actually, yeah. Surprisingly okay, under the circumstances."

"Mmm, me too." Mr Lupin leaned over and kissed Remus' forehead, then stood up. "I can see he's in capable hands, so I won't outstay my welcome. You should try and get some sleep now."

"I will."

Mr Lupin nodded, then after a last thoughtful glance at his sleeping son, he picked up the bowl and headed for the door.

"Mr Lupin," Sirius said quickly, before he could leave.

He turned. "Hmm?"

"I really do love him, you know."

A smile. "I know you do, Sirius."

"I mean, really. Really, really, really. More than... everything. More than my eyeliner."

Mr Lupin's smile progressed to a small laugh. "Wow. Okay, I never knew it went that far..." He shifted his grip on the bowl slightly so he could reach out and pull the door open, then added, "Honestly, though... I know. And so does he."

Sirius looked down at Remus; his eyes were open and he was smiling.

"Hi," he whispered.

"Hi," Sirius replied. He kissed Remus' nose. "How are you feeling?"

"Utterly crap, like my bones have been liquefied. But other than that... well, shite, actually." He sniffled unhappily and snuggled. "Get under the blankets, Sirius, you'll freeze down here."

He did, and Remus was able to snuggle properly.

"I love you too," he whispered.

Sirius reached his arm over Remus' waist so he could hold his hand.

~END~


End file.
